Boss sd-1, have I lost my mind?? The story of my day....

Manicompression

Manicompression

doing it for the kids
Aug 20, 2007
1,033
4
38
Cleveland OH
Hey dudes, Back when I started coming here I was pretty happy with my tone and just wanted to figure out how to record my guitar better, of course with the passage of time and gaining of knowledge I realized my tone was kind of flubby. Sad to say but years ago I used to be the guy who put a metal zone infront of a bass amp through a 4x12. So when I bought my Dual Rec in 04 It was worlds better and I was happy. Then I came here and learned of the ways of the Vintage 30 and not all Celestions were created equall. So I got some vintage 30s and they improved my sound quite a bit. And then the constant talk of Tube Screamers started sounding real good. So after reading Jeffs FAQ I decided I would test the waters with a TS7, a modest $40.00 investment..........frankly I like using it as a boost but its kind of noisy and does things I dont like either.
Today the powers that be let me out of work while the sun was still up, and I had some minor cash burning a hole in my pocket, I decided to go to guitar center and try out every overdrive that was in the price range. I tried a Bad Monkey, the Mxr Wylde OD, the Ibanez TS9dx, BBE green screamer, A Boss SD-1 super Overdrive, A blackstar pedal with a tube in it. they didnt have any Maxons, sux because I keep reading those rule. I tried all of these with the same head and pickup I have here at home. The ones I liked were the Bad Monkey and the SD-1, I decided on the SD-1 , I have 30 days to reverse this transaction. I have dicked with it for a few hours now and I think its my cup of tea, Is it the overdrive equivelent of a sonic maximizer (sonic beer goggles) or do any of you guys actually prefer it ? What specific models are you using to boost the 3 channel dual rec ??? please share your experiences. thanks to anyone who actually read all this written rambling...
 
The Boss SD-1 is a good, valid option for boosting your tube amp.I don't see anything wrong with it.

I use one with my dual rec clone and actually every amp I own. I prefer the SD-1 to a TS-9, although the results were similar when I A/B-d them. The SD-1 seemed just a tad more mid-rangey, which I consider a good thing.

+ I dig the yellow box. I like yellow.
 
right on dudes, Anyone have any experience micing up the dual rec sd-1 combo, My firepod took a shit so it will be a while before I can judge for myself,
Guitarded, my thoughts exactly, I expected to walk out with a ts9 today but im trusting my ears so far, we'll see how it cuts at practice, honeymooning
Hamsterdam, I as well dig the yellow box, Mesa Clone ?? what do you have going on out of curiosity ?? awesome dude
Jager, thanks for the vote of confidence
 
The Tube Screamer (TS-9 or TS-808) and the SD-1 are both classics. I used to use an SD-1 in front of my old Marshall Super Lead because that amp didn't have much gain.
 
Hey, Manic, that amp's been discussed before, but just for the record it's a Garland custom (it's the brand that Shadow_Walker made notorious on this forum with his free reamping service). Mine's a rack system with a separate preamp and a 50W 2x6L6 poweramp. It's a stripped-down dual rectifier design, nothing fancy, but has some great tones going on. Too bad I am not so good with recording so I can not showcase its potential.

But it sounds great with the SD-1 in front. :wave:
 
Mine are oriented towards unity gain levels:

Level: 11 oclock (I found that's unity gain for me using EMGs)
Tone: around 11-12 oclock
Drive: 6 oclock (or zero drive)

This tightens things up nicely.
 
My SD-1 settings are pretty much the same as yours, Jonesy

Level - Max
Tone - 9-10 o'clock
Drive - 8 o'clock

I go into the SD-1, into an MXR Smart Gate (Trigger Level at around 1-2 o'clock, Full gate, Hi trigger OFF) and straight into my amp. It's furious.
 
ProjectHamsterdam said:
Mine are oriented towards unity gain levels:

Level: 11 oclock (I found that's unity gain for me using EMGs)
Tone: around 11-12 oclock
Drive: 6 oclock (or zero drive)

This tightens things up nicely.
Click to expand...

YES...unity gain, so you get its tone shaping, not any more noise. I keep the level on my TS7 at 10:30.
 
yeah i find those settings dont colour your tone as much and basically smooth out the frequencies. Ive deffo noticed a loss of punch with it turned on. i still cant decide on wether or not to not use the sd1 and just turn the amps gain up a tad more. as that way i keep the punch

i dont get that much noise from mine with the level on max tbh. Infact this krank is the quietest hi gain amp ive used in agessssss, my noise gate, which was a must with my XXL, is just collecting dust!!
 
I find having the level on max makes a minimal impact on noise. I can kinda relate to you losing punch, Jonesy, but I find that's just a general effect of adding more gain anyway, like a loss of definition. My SD-1 seems to make most difference when it comes to chugging. It really is a subtle flavour it adds, but it really does the trick.
 
Different strokes (pedals) for different folks (amps). My Maxon OD808 was the shit in front of my JSX, however I didn't care for it in front of either my 6505 or my Rev Jr. Sounded too dull. My SD-1 (which I had bought before the Maxon) is back in steady use and the Maxon has been put away (thinking of selling it if anyone is interested).

SD-1 settings:

Level: Max
Tone: 12:00
Gain: 7:00
 
MetallyGuitarded said:
Lots of guys use that pedal in front of some serious amps. Seems like pulling a real train with a Tonka toy in some respects but if something works, fuck it.
Click to expand...

MONEY =/= QUALITY.

BOSS gear is fucking solid as fucking fuck. Period. The SD-1 is basically a Tube Screamer with a few oddities here and there, not some 'Tonka toy' like people who sell extremely expensive bullshit would have you believe. The circuit is reliable and very similar to the classic Tube Screamer, and in a lot of ways I'd consider it to be a big improvement over it.

If you can break a BOSS pedal, either you are or you should be working for the fucking Army.

One more time, MONEY =/= QUALITY.

Clear?

Okay. That's better. Affordability doesn't rule out quality. The SD-1 wins, and there's a good fucking reason I recommend it along with the TS7.

You'd think it was Gearslutz over here, with some of the cheap-stuff hate. Somehow Behringer is loved, sick thieving bastards, but reliable and well-put together stuff somehow can't be affordable?

Manicompression said:
right on dudes, Anyone have any experience micing up the dual rec sd-1 combo, My firepod took a shit so it will be a while before I can judge for myself,
Guitarded, my thoughts exactly, I expected to walk out with a ts9 today but im trusting my ears so far, we'll see how it cuts at practice, honeymooning
Hamsterdam, I as well dig the yellow box, Mesa Clone ?? what do you have going on out of curiosity ?? awesome dude
Jager, thanks for the vote of confidence
Click to expand...

You have to be on fucking crack... unless you're using it wrong, there's NO REASON AT ALL why the TS9 would do better than the TS7. You will find the same variances between two TS7s or two TS9s than you would between one of each. Why would you spend twice or three times as much money for the same fucking thing?

The last thing the music world needs more of is this mentality that more expensive gear has to be better. (Gibson, anyone?)

Jeff
 
Man, I still haven't caught up on the reading here. I had no idea the SD-1 was so highly respected. I've got one collecting dust. Haven't used it in YEARS. Matter of fact, the last time I used it was in like 2001 or 2002, when I filled in on guitar for Darkest Hour at Gainesville Fest. I was playing through one of Mike's 5150's and a JCM 800 cab. I stuck the SD-1 in front to have something familiar to tweak with, as I had never used a 5150 before then. Guess I'm going to have to break it out and see what I get from it on my Madison head.
 
It's really annoying that gear loses respect because it's common or affordable.

BOSS wins. You can even get some seriously cool stuff out of the nearly-universally-hated DS-1 if you know what you're doing and can tweak a few things.

Stop the cheap-gear-hating and just try things.

Jeff
 
JBroll said:
It's really annoying that gear loses respect because it's common or affordable.

BOSS wins. You can even get some seriously cool stuff out of the nearly-universally-hated DS-1 if you know what you're doing and can tweak a few things.

Stop the cheap-gear-hating and just try things.

Jeff
Click to expand...

Well, don't get me wrong Jeff. I wasn't "hating" on the SD-1. If I was, I wouldn't have kept it around for so long. I love that pedal, but I didn't think anyone else did, and I haven't even thought about that pedal in a LONG time. I can't wait to stick it in front of the Divinity and see what happens. Especially with the Vintage 30 cab. Just sucks that I can't use the SD-1 live. Too many clean part for that kind of insane footwork.
 
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